1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to quinazoline derivatives, or pharmaceutically-acceptable salts thereof, which possess anti-proliferative activity such as anti-cancer activity and are accordingly useful in methods of treatment of the human or animal body. The invention also relates to processes for the manufacture of said quinazoline derivatives, to pharmaceutical compositions containing them and to their use in the manufacture of medicaments of use in the production of an anti-proliferative effect in a warm-blooded animal such as man.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of the current treatment regimes for cell proliferation diseases such as psoriasis and cancer utilise compounds which inhibit DNA synthesis. Such compounds are toxic to cells generally but their toxic effect on rapidly dividing cells such as tumour cells can be beneficial. Alternative approaches to anti-proliferative agents which act by mechanisms other than the inhibition of DNA synthesis have the potential to display enhanced selectivity of action.
In recent years it has been discovered that a cell may become cancerous by virtue of the transformation of a portion of its DNA into an oncogene i.e. a gene which, on activation, leads to the formation of malignant tumour cells (Bradshaw, Mutagenesis, 1986, 1, 91). Several such oncogenes give rise to the production of peptides which are receptors for growth factors. The growth factor receptor complex subsequently leads to an increase in cell proliferation. It is known, for example, that several oncogenes encode tyrosine kinase enzymes and that certain growth factor receptors are also tyrosine kinase enzymes (Yarden et al., Ann. Rev. Biochem., 1988, 57, 443. Larsen et al. Ann. Reports in Med. Chem. 1989, Chpt. 13).
Receptor tyrosine kinases are important in the transmission of biochemical signals which initiate cell replication. They are large enzymes which span the cell membrane and possess an extracellular binding domain for growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and an intracellular portion which functions as a kinase to phosphorylate tyrosine amino acids in proteins and hence to influence cell proliferation. Various classes of receptor tyrosine kinases are known (Wilks, Advances in Cancer Research, 1993. 60, 43-73) based on families of growth factors which bind to different receptor tyrosine kinases. The classification includes Class I receptor tyrosine kinases comprising the EGF family of receptor tyrosine kinases such as the EGF, TGF.alpha., NEU, erbB, Xmrk, HER and let23 receptors, Class II receptor tyrosine kinases comprising the insulin family of receptor tyrosine kinases such as the insulin, IGFI and insulin-related receptor (IRR) receptors and Class III receptor tyrosine kinases comprising the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) family of receptor tyrosine kinases such as the PDGF.alpha., PDGF.beta. and colony-stimulating factor I (CDF1) receptors. It is known that Class I kinases such as the EGF family of receptor tyrosine kinases are frequently present in common human cancers such as breast cancer (Sainsbury et al., Brit J. Cancer, 1988, 58, 458; Guerin et al, Oncogene Res., 1988, 3, 21 and Klijn et al., Breast Cancer Res. Treat., 1994, 29, 73), non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) including adenocarcinomas (Cerny et al., Brit. J. Cancer, 1986, 54, 265; Reubi et al., Int. J. Cancer, 1990, 45, 269; and Rusch et al., Cancer Research, 1993, 53, 2379) and squamous cell cancer of the lung (Hendler et al., Cancer Cells, 1989, 7, 347), bladder cancer (Neal et al., Lancet, 1985, 366), oesophageal cancer (Mukaida et al., Cancer, 1991, 68, 142), gastrointestinal cancer such as colon, rectal or stomach cancer (Bolen et al., Oncogene Res., 1987, 1, 149), cancer of the prostate (Visakorpi et al., Histochem. J., 1992, 24, 481), leukaemia (Konaka et al., Cell, 1984, 37, 1035) and ovarian, bronchial or pancreatic cancer (European Patent Specification No. 0400586). As further human tumour tissues are tested for the EGF family of receptor tyrosine kinases it is expected that their widespread prevalance will be established in further cancers such as thyroid and uterine cancer. It is also known that EGF type tyrosine kinase activity is rarely detected in normal cells whereas it is more frequently detectable in malignant cells (Hunter, Cell, 1987, 50, 823). It has been shown more recently (W J Gullick, Brit. Med. Bull., 1991, 47, 87) that EGF receptors which possess tyrosine kinase activity are overexpressed in many human cancers such as brain, lung squamous cell, bladder, gastric, breast, head and neck, oesophageal, gynaecological and thyroid tumours.
Accordingly it has been recognised that an inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases should be of value as a selective inhibitor of the growth of mammalian cancer cells (Yaish et al. Science, 1988, 242, 933). Support for this view is provided by the demonstration that erbstatin, an EGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, specifically attenuates the growth in athymic nude mice of a transplanted human mammary carcinoma which expresses EGF receptor tyrosine kinase but is without effect on the growth of another carcinoma which does not express EGF receptor tyrosine kinase (Toi et al., Eur. J. Cancer Clin. Oncol., 1990, 26, 722). Various derivatives of styrene are also stated to possess tyrosine kinase inhibitory properties (European Patent Application Nos. 0211363, 0304493 and 0322738) and to be of use as anti-tumour agents. The in vivo inhibitory effect of two such styrene derivatives which are EGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors has been demonstrated against the growth of human squamous cell carcinoma inoculated into nude mice (Yoneda et al., Cancer Research, 1991, 51, 4430). Various known tyrosine kinase inhibitors are disclosed in a more recent review by T R Burke Jr. (Drugs of the Future, 1992, 17, 119).
It is known from European Patent Applications Nos. 0520722, 0566226 and 0635498 that certain quinazoline derivatives which bear an anilino substituent at the 4-position possess receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity. It is further known from European Patent Application No. 0602851 that certain quinazoline derivatives which bear a heteroarylamino substituent at the 4-position also possess receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity.
It is further known from International Patent Application WO 92/20642 that certain aryl and heteroaryl compounds inhibit EGF and/or PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase. There is the disclosure of certain quinazoline derivatives therein but no mention is made of 4-anilinoquinazoline derivatives.
The in vitro anti-proliferative effect of a 4-anilinoquinazoline derivative has been disclosed by Fry et al., Science, 1994, 265, 1093. It was stated that the compound 4-(3'-bromoanilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline was a highly potent inhibitor of EGF receptor tyrosine kinase.
The in vivo inhibitory effect of a 4,5-dianilinophthalimide derivative which is an inhibitor of the EGF family of receptor tyrosine kinases has been demonstrated against the growth in BALB/c nude mice of a human epidermnoid carcinoma A-431 or of a human ovarian carcinoma SKOV-3 (Buchdunger et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 1994, 91, 2334).
It is further known from European Patent Application No. 0635507 that certain tricyclic compounds which comprise a 5- or 6-membered ring fused to the benzo-ring of a quinazoline possess receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity. It is also known from European Patent Application No. 0635498 that certain quinazoline derivatives which carry an amino group at the 6-position and a halogeno group at the 7-position possess receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity.
Accordingly it has been indicated that Class I receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors will prove to be useful in the treatment of a variety of human cancers.
It is also expected that inhibitors of BGF type receptor tyrosine kinases will be useful in the treatment of other diseases of excessive cellular proliferation such as psoriasis (where TGF.alpha. is believed to be the most important growth factor) and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH).
There is no disclosure in these documents of quinazoline derivatives which bear at the 4-position an anilino substituent and which also bear an aminoalkylamino substituent at the 6-position. We have now found that such compounds possess potent in vivo anti-proliferative properties which are believed to arise from their Class I receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity.